Page:The National geographic magazine, volume 1.djvu/379

 hypsometrical and geological conditions of the dam that obstructs the travel and commerce of the world." But strange to say this plan suggested by such an eminent authority as Humboldt and so strongly recommended by common sense, has never been followed, and to-day after all the money that has been spent and the lives lost in explorations in Darien, there is not sufficient data collected to prove conclusively that there does not now exist some route for an interoceanic canal that possesses merits superior to any at present known. It is true the dividing ridge would be difficult to follow on account of the great number of confusing spurs, but I think I am safe in saying that starting from the summit of the main ridge at Culebra pass on the Isthmus of Panama, the dividing ridge extending to the pass at the head waters of the Atrato could be exhaustively followed and studied with as much facility as could either the Tuyra or Atrato rivers, embracing with each their respective tributaries.

I traveled on some of the high dividing ridges in Darien, and did not find that progress was at all difficult, and especially noted the fact of the absence of tangled undergrowth and matted vines which is so characteristic of the Darien forests generally.

Now a few words about the inhabitants of Panama and Darien, and in referring to these I mean the native inhabitants and not the indiscriminate gathering of all nationalities that were attracted by the Panama Canal.

In Central and South America, as in North America, the aboriginal inhabitant was the Indian. When the Spaniards first attempted to colonize Darien they were met and resisted by the native Indian just as our forefathers were in Virginia and Massachusetts, and as with us so in Panama and Darien the Indians have been driven back by degrees from the shores of both oceans until now they are found only in the far interior.

They resemble our Indians in appearance, but are smaller. They are averse to manual labor and live almost entirely by hunting and fishing, although they sometimes have small plantations of plantains, bananas, oranges and lemons. The Spaniards in settling in the new country brought very few women with them and the Colombian of to-day is the result of the admixture of the Indian and Spanish blood, and has many of the characteristics of each race.

In addition to the Indian and Colombian there are in Panama and Darien a comparatively large number of negroes, who were originally imported as slaves by the early Spaniards,